Question for those of you who are now working out of your home: Are you having a hard time staying focused on your work? The distractions are killing me. Yesterday I got the Catch out at 5:15 p.m., forty-five minutes before our evening Bible Study started. I’m not excusing myself here, I’m just reporting what happened.
Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. Ephesians 4:3-6
This is a time to focus on what unites us, not what divides us, and when we are spread out all over the world, these are the things we share in common.
This is really pretty simple…
Scientists have discovered that in photographing a black hole, which we can now do, it is possible to glimpse the entire universe bent into bands around it. Here on our tiny little planet earth, a black hole of despair has gripped our hearts in the form of a novel virus that is breaking out all over the world, and no one has any immunity against it. Yet around this black hole are bands of hope and glimpses of the kingdom of God that is greater than death and disease.
I scored twelve rolls of toilet paper yesterday morning. I was so happy. I had to go to two stores before 8am on a Sunday to find it, but I did. It’s a good thing because I refused to stockpile toilet paper and we were down to our last roll. I still believe this was an artificially-created self-inflicted shortage based on fear that we would run out, and, sure enough, we did. Like the herd instinct that set in when Jesus sent a large number of swine running off a cliff and drowning in the Sea of Galilee, people were just following those in from of them. And by the time thousands of people had run off with two and three shopping carts full of toilet paper, guess what? We had a shortage.
“Virus cases mount at a grim and worrying pace,” “Day-care system suffers as virus runs roughshod,” “State rules hobble would-be nurses,” “Grim forecast in Silicon Valley,” “County leaders at odds in a time of crisis,” “Experts say growth rate could swamp hospitals” … Shall I go on? Just a few of today’s headlines from one section of the paper. It’s enough to make you want to go back to bed. Read further and you start to get into finger-pointing and “I told you so” theories of who’s responsible. Then you get into cover-up, denials, false hopes and anybody’s guess as to how long it will be before things return to normal.
Today is Opening Day of the 2020 baseball season. The Commissioner of Baseball, Rob Manfred, published a letter this morning to all baseball fans that reads: “Opening Day holds an important place in our hearts. It signifies the arrival of spring, the promise of new beginnings, the return of following your favorite team on a long journey filled with twists and turns, and the hope that your team will put together a magical season you will remember forever.” Then he calls on us all to channel that optimism and determination into facing the challenges presented to us by the current pandemic.
This just in … Catch member comes up with the perfect hand-washing technique for these coronavirus-sensitive days.
Frequent hand washing has been recommended as one of the simple practices we can perform to reduce our chances of contracting the virus. Experts say at least 20 seconds of scrubbing with soap and hot water will do the job. But how long is 20 seconds? Someone said it takes 20 seconds to sing Happy Birthday, but I’m getting real tired of that, besides, who do I sing it to? Whoever pops into my mind? I sang it to Donald for a while (as in “Trump.”) That was actually not a bad idea because I said a little prayer for him at the same time.
I didn’t even plant these. They just came up.
I went for a short walk this morning just a little ways outside my house. I breathed in the crisp fresh air. No coronavirus there. I felt the warm sun radiate on my face contrasting with the cold air all around me, making me feel like I was standing in front of a radiator 93 million miles away. No virus there. I noticed the trees growing into each other, and the early spring flowers bunched together trying to beat each other in reaching for the sun. No social distancing there. I took in the clouds, billowing white and gray far above everything, uninfected. Out there on my street, in just a few things I could see of God’s creation, everything’s okay.
Sunday night’s Church at the Catch witnessed even more interaction — the most interaction we’ve had involving many who otherwise would have attended a local church but couldn’t because services were canceled due to self-imposed quarantines as an aid to prevention against the spread of the coronavirus. There may be a silver lining on this pandemic (indeed, I bet there will be many good things that will come out of this one truly bad thing) and that is that the Catch Ministries have already “bought our place in cyberspace” and we have a place for you that is “social” and safe.
Stay-at-home Mom. Stay-at-home Dad. Stay-at-home schoolchildren. Stay-at-home non-essential workers. I guess just about everybody is staying at home. And all you need to confirm this is to drive on the L.A. freeways during rush hour and find out there is no rush.
John Fischer The Catch 